Second Chances Never Work
by firetruck
Summary: They promised each other they’d be friends forever, overcoming every obstacle they had to face. But when trust is gone and tears fall, promises break.
1. Chapter One

**Summary: **They promised each other they'd be friends forever, overcoming every obstacle they had to face. But when trust is gone and tears fall, promises break.

**Rating: **T

**Italics are flashbacks.**

"_Haley, please…I'm sorry." He said, his arm reaching out to her, but I flinched at his touch._

"_Just leave. I can't be around you." I felt the tears become unstoppable. I held my arm tightly._

"_Hales…" He said. I hated when he called me that. He wore it out._

"_Leave!" I shouted, my cheeks soaked with tears._

_As soon as he left, I pulled out my cell phone. As I dialed the numbers, I examined the bruise on my arm in the mirror. I didn't bother to fix my hair or make up. What was the point anymore?_

_I heard the line go busy. I hung up and tried again, but still nothing._

"_Where are you?" I whispered to myself. As soon as I put my phone down, it began ringing. I immediately picked it up._

"_Hello?" I said, my voice on the verge of another breakdown._

"_Haley? What's up?" The voice said, not noticing the pain in my voice._

"_I…" I felt my throat go dry. "It happened again."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Chris hit me…again." I felt my eyes burn with tears. The other line fell silent._

"_Haley, are you at your house?"_

"_Yeah." I said, softly._

"_Don't move. I'll be right there." I hung up the phone with a goodbye, and waited for at the door._

_He came to my door, worried as hell. "Haley?" He called out, ringing the doorbell repeatedly. As soon as I saw him, I went into his arms. He held me and soothed my tears._

_I stood again at the doorstep, wiping away my tears._

"_Okay, you were right. You don't need to say 'I told you so'." I said, smiling weakly._

"_Where?" He asked simply, and I knew what he meant. I turned and a bruise was visibly forming. He clenched his fists, enraged._

"_Haley, I swear to God, if he ever comes near you again –"_

"_He won't. You'll have killed him by then." I said, laughing. He smiled, embracing me in a hug. He kissed my forehead._

"_I'm always here, Haley James."_

"_I love you, Nathan Scott."_

"Haley, you okay?" Nathan said to me, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I said, smiling. Brooke stood in front of us, watching.

"Ohhhh! This is exactly why you two should get together now." She said, squealing. I rolled my eyes.

"We're best friends, Brooke." Nathan said, obviously tired of all the comments.

"I know, but you ought to be more." Peyton said, coming by Brooke's side. I didn't say anything, knowing that the dynamic duo that was Brooke and Peyton would overrule me anyway.

The bell rang, which meant lunch was over. Brooke and Peyton went the opposite way as us, while Nathan and I headed the same direction to our lockers.

"They can drive you nuts, huh?" Nathan said, wrapping his arm around me.

"Ah, yeah, but as long as I have you." I said, smiling. "My only source of sanity." He laughed.

"Seriously? I didn't know I was_ that_ normal."

We got to our lockers, turning our combinations. "What do we have next?" He asked.

"Get a schedule, loser. We have…" I paused, looking at the schedule in my locker. "Gym."

"Wait, gym?" I nodded my head. "Dance unit starts today." I rolled my eyes. Partner dancing always got Nathan's nerves up.

"Come on, you can't tell me you're not the least bit excited to be dancing with five different girls in one period." He smirked. That was the only thing that bugged me about him. His smirk.

"Okay, fine. You got me there. But you know, one of these days, you're going to need to get a boyfriend so I can say the same thing about you." I laughed.

"Right." I said, shutting my locker. The locker door hit my arm before it shut and I flinched. "Ow...!" I said, grabbing the bruise. Nathan came over to me.

"It's still there?" He said, softly. I nodded my head.

"It still hurts." He pulled me into a hug, even though I hated the pity.

We walked to gym together, dropping our books off on the floor before entering it.

"Okay, kids, sit down for attendance – it's your favorite unit of the year." Whitey said, smugly. Everyone groaned, sitting in alphabetical order.

As soon as attendance was done, everyone stood up. "Okay, for the waltz, boys stand on that side of the gym," Whitey pointed to the bleachers, "And girls, stand by the score board." Everyone did as told, and he started to pair people off.

"Hey, tutorgirl!" Brooke said, enthusiastically popping up beside me.

"Hey," I responded.

"I hope I don't get stuck with a horrible dance—" Before she could finish, Whitey yelled, "Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott!"

She looked at me, with her eyebrow raised and headed over to Lucas. I smiled.

"Nathan Scott and Haley James!"

Peyton laughed, not too far away from me.

"It was destined to be." She said, smiling. I rolled my eyes and headed to Nathan.

"Sorry I didn't get to be one of the five girls of your dreams." I said, getting into dance position with him.

"Who says you're not?" He responded. Before I could question it, the music began and the lessons started.

* * *

I spun the combination on my locker, Nathan coming up behind me. 

"Hey, Haley." He said, looking absolutely exhausted.

"Whoa, are you alright?" I asked, as my locker opened.

"Yeah, just tons of homework that I do not understand." I laughed.

"Tonight at six?" I replied.  
"Yes, _please_." He said, grabbing his books out of his locker. It was a traditional thing for us, I guess. If he didn't understand something, I'd come over and tutor him on it.

"Maybe…" He started, as we walked out of the school together. "You want to go for dinner or something after?" I was a little surprised.

"Dinner?" I repeated. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, and a movie or something. If you're not busy." He sounded nervous. Since when was he nervous around me? No, it was probably all in my head.

"Um, sure. Okay." I said. "As long as dinner is burgers and a Coke." He laughed.

"Deal."

We walked separate directions after saying our goodbyes, and I went home confused, but let it go. It was probably nothing.

* * *

At six, I began walking to Nathan's house. It was about three blocks away, not too far. I brought along money, because it's not like it was a date. It wasn't…wait. Was it? 

I rang his doorbell, putting my hands in my sweater pockets.

"Hey," I said as he opened the door.

"Hi," He replied. He let me in and I made myself at home on his bed upstairs.

"Okay, get out your homework. This is serious business here." I said, crossing my legs.

"Serious business?" He said. I laughed.

"Just get your stuff out."

He put his books and papers on the bed in front of me and then sat in front of me as well. "First up…history." I opened the text book. "Okay, so you know all the World War II stuff?" I asked, patiently. He shook his head, slowly. I smiled. "That's where I come in, isn't it?" He nodded his head.

After a bit of summarizing, I didn't realize I had been going on and on. "On September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland according to a secret agreement with the Soviet Union. Then, two days later, the United States, Australia and New Zealand responded by declaring war with Germany. Soon, South Africa and Canada followed alon—"

And then it happened. He just kissed me. I just sat there, confused as hell, my pencil still in my hand. His lips were on mine, and I didn't know how to respond to it. He pulled away and looked at me, for my reaction.

I can safely say I looked surprised, confused and zoned out. I looked at him and didn't know what to say. He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Haley, I know that wasn't very –" And then there I went, practically jumping him and kissing him on top of all the books and pencils and notebooks.

I was on top of him when I stopped the kiss. I looked at him unsure, and he didn't care. He pulled me back on him, and I knew from then on that I'd never forget that moment.

* * *

**Okay, you know the drill. Read and review it, I love hearing your thoughts. Oh, and don't worry, we'll get into the Chris storyline soon.**

**Hit that lavender button!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary: **They promised each other they'd be friends forever, overcoming every obstacle they had to face. But when trust is gone and tears fall, promises break.

**Rating: **T

**Italics are flashbacks.**

I didn't even think when I was doing it. I was on top of him, and I knew it was going to be awkward. I didn't mean 'the next day at school' awkward, I meant '5 seconds later'. I stopped the kiss and sat upright, unknowingly avoiding his eyes.

"Hales?" Oh, there was that nickname again. I used to love it when people called me that. 'Hales'. It sounded so cute – so belonging, like people knew me long enough to have a nickname. But when I met Chris…it changed every time someone called me that.

"Haley?" He repeated. I looked at him and he began to speak. "Are you okay?" He barely said, taking my hand in his. Oh God, oh God, oh God…I didn't know what to say. I loved it when he held my hand, when he touched me in general, but…I didn't know what to think anymore. I loved him, but I didn't know if it was more than friendship.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm good, I mean, I'm more than good, I'm practically great –" I stopped when I saw him smirk.

"This…this doesn't mean we're dating or anything, right?" He asked. Why do people even ask questions in that way? Questions that end in 'right' are always going to have an answer that they want to hear. I guess I couldn't stop it then either.

"Yeah, it was one time." I said, in agreement. He nodded his head, looking in the direction of the textbooks. I knew immediately what he was thinking.

"I'll still tutor you." I said, a lump forming in my throat. Why was I getting so wound up over a kiss? Okay, not just a kiss. Two kisses. Two pretty damn meaningful kisses.

"I lied." He said, looking at me again. I was confused.

"What?" I replied.

"I know it meant something." I exhaled silently, running my hand through my hair.

"I know it did."

* * *

Brooke approached me the next day, bouncing at my locker.

"Sooooo…" She said, waiting for me to say something. I looked at her strangely.

"Hi?" I replied, confused.

"Cut the small talk, tutor girl. How good of a kisser was he?" I rolled my eyes. News got out fast in Tree Hill, from someone getting a job to best friends kissing on a bed.

"I don't kiss and tell on my best friend." I said, turning back to my locker.

"Oh, come ON!" She said. She finally got the hint when I didn't reply. "Okay, fine. Hey, guess what?" She said, excitedly. She bounces back fast.

"What, Miss Davis, could possibly bring more excitement to Tree Hill High?" I said, turning to her again.

"I like someone!" She shrieked. I rolled my eyes.

"And that's news? Brooke, you always like someone."

"No, this is not an 'I want to bang you' crush," She said. She was quite blunt. "This is an actual one I'll wait for…even though I'm pretty sure a hottie like him isn't a virgin." I was actually sort of interested.

"Okay, so who is this lucky man?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Lucas." She said, smiling. I laughed.

"Did dancing with him charm you?" I asked, smiling. It was cute though – Brooke and Lucas. Their names even went together.

"Sort of…I guess, yeah." She said, a little confused. "Whatever, all I know is, I'm going to ask him out."

"Nice." I said, a bit surprised. Usually guys would ask Brooke out, not the other way around.

"No, maybe I should play it hard to get." She said, thinking out loud.

"That works too." I said, finally opening my locker.

"Yeah, I don't know," She said, shaking her head, "but I DO know that you and Scott would be one hot couple." She winked and walked away. I rolled my eyes.

What seemed like a millisecond later, Nathan came to his locker.

"Hi," I said, nervously. Now I know what it's like to be nervous around your best friend. He looked up from his iPod.

"Hey." He said, looking at me momentarily before opening his locker.

"I tried calling last night." I said, leaning against the locker beside his.

"Yeah, sorry, I got busy." He said, taking his headphones out of his ears. I sighed.

"Nathan, c'mon, I don't want to be all awkward around you." I tried.

"I think the kiss did that for us." He said, half laughing, half scoffing. I tried to say something, but no words could reply to that. He looked at me, pausing. "Haley, did you like it?" I didn't know what he meant.

"Did I like what?" I think I subconsciously knew what he meant, but I was hoping it wasn't what I thought. He leaned over to me and kissed me for about two seconds, which left me wanting more.

"That." He said, waiting for an honest answer.

"Nathan, I don't really see how that's going to…"

"Just answer." He said. I could tell he was getting a little sick of me stalling.

"Yeah," I said, half whispering. "But…I mean, we're best friends. You said yourself it didn't mean anything."

"Yeah, and then I said I lied; Haley, if you don't want it to mean anything, it doesn't have to," He said. I didn't think words of wisdom were going to help. "But you and I both know it did, so it's up to you." Wait, I was confused. What was up to me?

Oh, crap. He didn't mean…dating? As in…wow. He began to walk away as the bell rang, and a crowd of people came between us.

"I – Nathan!" I called out. He either didn't hear me or didn't respond, because by the time the crowd cleared, there was nothing but the silence of the hallways.

* * *

I walked to my locker with a hall pass, thinking about how I forgot to bring my science textbook to class. As I opened it, I heard footsteps behind me. I figured it was a teacher and didn't look back, until the footsteps came closer to me. I finally saw it was Nathan, ignoring me and opening his locker.

I didn't really feel like arguing with him, so I simply got my textbook and closed the locker, beginning to walk away.

"Haley," He said. I turned around. "Are you feeling adventurous?" I raised my eyebrow.

"What?" I asked. He gestured to the school entrance, and I shook my head. "No, no, no, no, I will not get caught…" I paused to lower my voice, "skipping!"

He walked over to the doors and opened them, gesturing for me to come along. I looked around, wondering how he could be so damn calm.

I groaned and finally gave in. "Fine, fine." I mumbled, cautiously looking each direction before leaving with him. We walked to his car and I still felt a little scared of getting caught. By the time I set my science textbook down, I calmed down already. "Ah, so where are we going anyway?"

"You'll see." He said, smirking of course. I groaned.

"NATHAN! I hate surprises." I pouted.

"Not this one, you won't." He said, keeping his eyes on the road.

---

We came to the dock, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. All that was there was a wooden table that Nathan and I came to when we had serious talks. Oh…crap.

"Nathan?" I asked, getting out of the car.

"Hm?" He said, behind me.

"Okay, what's up?" I said, turning around. I didn't want a serious talk right now. He had quite the mischievous smile. I looked at him, practically commanding him to explain. He pulled out a basket from his back, one that looked exactly like…

"A picnic basket? Nathan, I don't get it." I said, shrugging.

"You know, for a tutor, you're pretty slow." He said, smiling. It suddenly hit me.

"No, seriously, a picnic? Nathan, you just entered the zone of cheesiness." I said, as he grabbed my arm to sit at the table. "Nathan!" I whined.

"Oh, shut up. At least I did something nice." He said, taking out two plastic containers and forks.

"Mac and cheese!" I said, my mood suddenly changing for the better. I grabbed a container and fork and dug in.

"Uh…you're welcome." He said, on the verge of laughing.

"Oh, oh! Thanks." I said, still eating. I was starving – my lunch consisted of an iced tea and a bag of Lays. I didn't feel hungry up 'til then. He laughed. "Shut up, I barely had lunch."

"No, it's not you being a pig," He said, "It's just us, being here, in this moment. I mean, this morning, we were so distant, and about five hours later, we're being best friends again. It's nice." I nodded my head, wondering when the hell he got so deep.

"Um, so what's our next stop?" I said, wiping my mouth. He raised his eyebrow.  
"What makes you think there's another stop?" I didn't really have an answer to that.

"Oh, no, I just thought that…I assumed that, um…"

"Okay, don't kill yourself. I did have something in mind." I looked at him expectantly. "You up for a little more adventure?"

**Tell me how you like it. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up by Thursday, because I'm leaving for a while this weekend. I'll give a small spoiler for next chapter, in case I don't get it up by Thursday:**

**-- Naley are taking a trip down memory lane.**

**By the way, if you've seen The Reaping, can you tell me how it is? My friend and I are planning to see it this Friday, but I've heard different thoughts about it, so just let me know. **


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